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ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE TO KNOW TO TRAVEL IN RUSSIA
ur several tours do not include expenses for international transport and visa’s procedures. Please find below some information about the additional costs.
You would like to give additional comments on this page, please contact us by email: siei-ngo@mail.ru. We will add your remarks as soon as possible.
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GET TO RUSSIA
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NECESSARY PROCEDURES FOR RUSSIA
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GET TO RUSSIA:
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BY PLANE
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BY TRAIN
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In all itineraries, we have mentioned the first and final destination of our tours. Sometimes both are the same place, sometimes not. Please check one again in case of doubt.
Whenever you come from, you will certainly have a correspondence in Moscow to reach Siberia (Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude,…). The following information are only indicative. You may prefer to book directly your tickets in tourism agency.
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BY PLANE
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AVERAGE PRICE OF A RETURN FLIGHT TO MOSCOW
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RUSSIAN AIRLINES COMPANIES
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PLAN OF MOSCOW AIRPORT
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AVERAGE PRICE OF A RETURN FLIGHT TO MOSCOW
Please find hereby indicative costs and different airline company to get to Moscow. The following prices do not include airport taxes.
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From USA:
New-York / Moscow = $470-$650
Los-Angeles / Moscow = $690 - $900
Best deals with: AMERICAN AIRLINES, KLM, DELTA, AEROFLOT
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From Great Britain:
London / Moscow = GDP 150-290
Best deals with: BRITISH AIRLINES (interesting for students), AEROFLOT.
For more than one month better deals are offered by LUFTHANSA, ALITALIA, AIR FRANCE and AEROFLOT
You have also other possibilities:
with RYANAIR: from Liverpool or London to Riga (Latvia). Then from Riga, it is possible to join Moscow by train for about GDP 10 – 15 one way, with any need of transit visa if you are European Citizen. It takes around 8-hour long overnight train.
with EASY JET: from London to Tallinn (Estonia) and then from Tallinn take the overnight train to Moscow.
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From Germany:
Frankfurt / Moscow = Euros 90 – 210
Berlin / Moscow = Euros 200
Koln / Moscow = Euros 200
Best deals with: SIBIR AIRLINES, AEROFLOT, TRANSAERO
You have other possibilities:
with RYANAIR: Frankfurt – Riga (Latvia). Then from Riga, it is possible to join Moscow by train for about Euros 15 – 20 one way with any need of transit visa, if you are European citizen. It takes around 8-hour long overnight train.
with EASYJET: Berlin – Riga (Latvia) or Berlin – Tallinn. Then from Tallinn or Riga, you can join Moscow by train.
with GERMAN WINGS: From Koln or Berlin / Moscow. The one way flight is about Euros 100 including taxes.
with SIBIR AIRLINES: this Russian airline offers very attractive price, but also direct line from Frankfurt to Novosibirsk. If Novosibirsk is your final destination, you should consider this possibility. In hot season, the price should not exceed euros 570-1200 (including taxes).
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From France:
Paris / Moscow = Euros 250 – 315
Best deals with Eastern European airline LOT POLISH AIRLINES, CZECH AIRLINES, but check also AEROFLOT or AIR FRANCE.
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If you want directly to fly until Siberia and if your destination is Novosibirsk, we invite you to consider traveling via Frankfurt in Germany, because the Russian airline SIBIR AIRLINES makes a direct fly from Frankfurt to Novosibirsk. The price in hot season should not exceed euros 570 – 1200 (including taxes). It could be much more convenient than to change airport in Moscow and also a better deal for you. Please compare.
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RUSSIAN AIRLINES COMPANIES
Please find hereby the list of the Russian airlines companies and their several offices abroad. Some of them are organizing international flights directly to Siberia, other ones only cover the national territory of Russia. Please compare and find the most appropriate cost for you.
AEROFLOT:
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MOSCOW
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Petrovka St., 20/1 (metro Teatralnaya, Okhotny Ryad), Tel.: +7 (095) 753-5555
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BEVERLY HILLS
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9100 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 616-BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90212, Tel.:(310) 281-5300
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NEW YORK
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10 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1015-NEW YORK, NY 10020, Tel: (888) 340-6400 or (212) 944-2300
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WASHINGTON
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1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 200-WASHINGTON, DC 20006, Tel.: (415) 434-2300
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LONDON
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70 Picadilly Street, Tel.: 020 73552233, WEBSITE
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PARIS
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33 av des Champs-Elysees - 75008 PARIS, Tel.: 42254381, 42253192, 48169087, WEBSITE
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FRANKFURT
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Deutschlanddirektion - Wilhelm-Leuschnerstr. 41 - 60329 Frankfurt, Tel.: 069-27300630, WEBSITE
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BERLIN
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Unter den Linden 51-53 - 10117 Berlin, Tel.: 030-2269810
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HAMBURG
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Admiralitätsstr. 60- 20459 Hamburg, Tel.: 040-3742883
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MUNCHEN
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Isatorplatz 2 - 80331 München - Tel.: 089-288261
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SIBIR AIRLINE:
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WEBSITE
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http://english.s7.ru/ (in Russian, English, German)
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CONTACT
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IN MOSCOW: 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya str., 15 (metro «Belorusskaya») +7 (095) 777-9999
IN UK: +86 10 651-207-09
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TRANSAERO:
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MOSCOW
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Pavaletskaya sq., b.2, str.3 - Tel.:(7 095) 7 788-80-80
Revolutsii sqr.3/4 - Tel.: (7 095) 925 22 32
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BERLIN
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Postfach 007 - D-12521 Berlin-Schoenefeld -Tel.: (49 174) 571-43-05
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FRANKFURT AM MAIN
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151 HBK 096 Flughafen - D-60549 Frankfurt am Main – Tel.: (49 388) 64 73 89
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LONDON
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London - Gatwick Airport – Tel.: (44 870) 770-28-52
7 Princedale Road Holland Park, London W11 4NW – Tel.:(44(0)20) 7792 5240
7 Wellington Terrace, Noting Hill, London W2 4 LW – Tel.: (44(0) 20) 7727 4100
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GLASGOW
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29St Vincent Place, Glasgow, G1 2 DT – Tel.: (44(0) 141) 204 5809
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MANCHESTER
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Talbot Road, Manchester, M32 0FP – Tel.: (44(0)161) 872 4222
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STRASBOURG
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Airport International Strasbourg 67960 ENTZHEIM France Tel.: (33) 388 64 73 89
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PULKOVO:
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MOSCOW
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125407, 20/22 2nd Tverskaya-Yamskaya St., Tel.: 7-095-995-20-25
Office 114,building 1, «Vikont-Avia»,Sheremetyevo Airport. tel.: 7-095-578-88-80
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LONDON
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Room 323, Concorde House,North Wing,Gatwick Airport,West Sussex, RH6 ODW, United KinGDOM - Tel.: 44-(0)-1-293-502-422
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PARIS
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35, Avenue de Friedland, 75008-Paris - Tel.: 33(0)-1-456-14-646
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BERLIN
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Main office: 19–21 Kleiststrasse, Berlin 10787. Tel.: 49-(0)30-885-766-21 or 49-(0)30-885-766-20
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FRANKFURT
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Airport, Frankfurt 60549 - Tel.: 49-(0)69-690-739-97
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MUNICH
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Airport, Munich 85326 - Tel.: 49-(0)89-975-91-092
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HAMBURG
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Airport, Hamburg 22335 - Tel.: 49-(0)40-507-53-192
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HANOVER
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Hanover 30661 - Tel.: 49-(0)511-977-21-35
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DUSSELDORF
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Airport, Dusseldorf 40212 - Tel.: 49-(0)211-421-60-44
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PLAN OF MOSCOW AIRPORT
If you fly until Moscow and take your correspondence overthere, you will certainly arrive in Sheremetevo 2 (International airport). Therefore you will need to go to Sheremetevo 1 to take national flight. Please find following the advices of Olga, one of our tourism’s supervisor at the institute. You can also appreciate her artistic talent!:
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It is very easy to get to bus station just hundred meters to walk. The bus can be different variety from mini bus to a big tourist one. But normally there is one available and free for any passenger in transit.
When you see the bus on the most left station (if you stay with your back to the building) you have to ask to bus driver or other people the following question:
“Etot avtobus edet v Sheremetyevo odin?” (Is this bus going to the Sheremetyevo one?)
They will answer Da (Yes) or Net (No)!
It can take up to 30 minutes till the next right bus will come, be patient! I guess you will have plenty of time. It will take you about 10-15 minutes to get to the other airport. The bus will stop just in front of entrance to the departure building of Sheremetyevo 1.
When you get there, go in and right, somewhere in the middle of hall there are screens (small ones) where you can check number of the flight and time (it is always at local Moscow time).
If you go further on almost till the end you can find a café where you can sit and read or work on your laptop. The food in the café is quite expensive. You can buy some snack outside of the airport building or bring with you. You can also buy some beverages in the café. The tee is about 2 US$ coffee is 5 $US.
Please be aware of taxi drivers, they can impose their service quite aggressive. My advices - do not talk to them in any case, just ignore them.
Please be very careful with your luggage and expensive equipment. Do not leave any your staff without care. There are thieves at the airports and train stations.
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BY TRAIN
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TRAIN FROM WESTERN EUROPE TO RUSSIA
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HOW TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT PRICE, SCHEDULE?
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TRAIN NETWORK IN RUSSIA AND TRANSIBERIAN TRAIN
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WHERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR RUSSIAN TRAIN?
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TRAIN FROM WESTERN EUROPE TO RUSSIA
Some of you might prefer traveling by train. The average time and price to travel by train from Western Europe to Moscow are 35 hours and not more than 200euros with return. The closer you will be to Russia, of course the cheapest it will be!
Please find hereby the main train connections that go from Western Europe to Moscow:
We strongly recommend you to travel via Kaunas (Lithuania) and join Riga to reach Moscow (or Tallinn if you want to visit St Petersburg on your way). In fact, if you follow this itinerary, you won’t need transit visa. In contrary, if you are interested to cross Belarus, you will have to apply previously to the Belarus Embassy of your country, for a transit visa, that cannot be provided on the border, and that should cost between 25 – 35 euros. This is the same situation, if you would like to cross Ukraine. Please note that CIS citizens are not concerned about this above procedure.
The best way to reach Moscow is to get from Warsaw to Riga, and then take a daily train Riga-Moscow; the total price should be around 70 euros (one-way). Again, if you take a direct train Warsaw-Moscow or Berlin-Moscow, you will cross Belarus and it will also cost around 70 euros + at least 30 euros for a transit visa.
WHICH STATION IN MOSCOW?
There are about ten different train stations in Moscow, please not:
RIZHSKI RAILWAY STATION: Latvia (Riga)
KIEVSKI RAILWAY STATION: Ukraine (Kiev)
LENINGRADSKI RAILWAY STATION: St. Petersburg, Estonia (Tallinn)
HOW TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT PRICE, SCHEDULE?
DEUTSCHE BAHN: you might browse this German website to get information for train connections from Western Europe to Moscow: in English
EUROPE ON RAIL: you might be also interested to buy a pass that allows you to travel across different European countries for a determined period. Please compare!
TRAIN NETWORK IN RUSSIA AND TRANSIBERIAN TRAIN
But the adventure continues. Now you will have to travel from Moscow to your final destination in Siberia. Please not that the average schedule to Novosibirsk is 60 hours, and for Irkutsk (Baikal Lake) 4 days and a half.
RUSSIAN TRANSPORT AGENCY: this website provides you all the schedules for Russian trains, but it is only in Russian. Please do not hesitate to contact us for help: siei-ngo@mail.ru
WHICH STATION IN MOSCOW?
To go to the Russian East, you need to take the train in YAROSLAVSKI RAILWAY STATION (metro Komsomolskaya).
WHERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR RUSSIAN TRAIN?
AT THE RAILWAY STATION: You can buy your tickets directly at the ticket sale offices ("kassa" - "касса"). It will be certainly cheaper, but less convenient if you are not Russian speaker, and if you do not buy it in advance (especially during summer’s holidays). You will always need to present your passport and all tickets have your name, place, and passport number on them. The tickets for all destinations are usually readily available; however, if you want a train for a specific date or a train that departs only a few times a week, it is better to try to buy your ticket at least 3-7 days before.
TICKETS AGENCIES: The agencies will of course charge commission on top. It should be around from 10% to 50% of the ticket price. It depends on the quality offer. You can find agencies directly to the station in Moscow.
TRAIN LINE.RU: On this website, you can buy some tickets online for Russian train.
TICKET.RU: you can also buy ticket for Russian trains on this website, but it is only for Russian citizens. Please do not hesitate to contact us for help: siei-ngo@mail.ru
Please note that you cannot book a train ticket in Russia - only purchase it. You cannot purchase it earlier than 45 days before the departure of your train. Your ticket will have a place, your name and your passport in it. There are no such things as "open tickets" in Russia and you can't do stopovers (unless you get a separate ticket for each part of the journey). Please beware that, according to the Russian law, you need to be registered if you decide to stay more than 3 nights in the same place.
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CLASSIFICATIONS ON THE RUSSIAN TRAIN:
•a seat in a common carriage - si`dyachee mesto v `obshchem va`gone - [4th class],
•a seat - si'dyachee mesto - "сидячее место" [4th class],
•a "platzcart" - "плацкарт"- that is common car with berths - [3rd class],
•one couch in a 4-berth compartment - od'no 'mesto v ku'pe - "одно место в купе" - one place in compartment) - [2nd class],
•one couch in a 2-bed compartment - those kind of wagons are called "sleep cars" - od'no 'mesto v s'palynom va'gone - "одно место в спальном вагоне" - one place in "sleep car" - [1st class]
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The train compartments are quite comfortable. Of course it is also depending on your choice. But generally in each wagon a permanent hostess cleans compartments, provides you with bed sheets in exchange of 50 rubles (less than 2 euros). Toilets and Hot Water (Samovar) are available in each wagon. Showers are only provided on the first class. For long distance, the train often stops in different stations, where you have time to buy food, drinks and have a small rest.
Russian trains are safe. You cannot enter without showing your passport and ticket. There is also a permanent police team on board. But we recommend you to ware your small valuable items and money all the time with you. At each stop, the train is all the time checked to make sure there are no minor damages. Electricity is provided by its own diesel generator-carriage.
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NECESSARY PROCEDURES FOR RUSSIA
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INVITATION
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INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE
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VISA
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MIGRATION CARD
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VISA REGISTRATION
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Before applying for a visa to the Russian consulate of your country, you will need first of all to collect an INVITATION – so-called also visa support, with the exact period of your staying in Russia, as well as to get an INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE that covers all the period mentioned on your official invitation.
INVITATION
The participants for scientific excursions or summer schools will be invited by the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.
Participants of ecotours will be invited by our NGO. In both cases we need to get some information for getting visa. Please fulfill the rows in the table, which is inside the Excel file, then rename this file by your surname (last name), and then send it to us my email as an attachment.
Open the file:
Invittaion data.xls
After we will apply for an official invitation, that we will send you by express mail or we will communicate you the telex number. If you receive a telex number, it means that you do not need to provide original invitation to the consulate, but just mention the telex number at your arrival.
INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE
If you have an international credit card (such as VISA, MASTERCARD, EUROCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS,…), international cover should be included on your subscription. We recommend you to contact your bank and request certificate of insurance for your stay in Russia. It is free of charges and most of the time, the insurance are registered by the Russian government.
Other possibility is to contact directly your own insurance company and get information about its policy. They might also be registered by Russian government.
In fact you can only provide certificate of international insurance recognized by Russian government.
Please find below the list of allowed insurances depending on your country. If your country is not mentioned, we invite you to contact directly the Russian consulate for information:
FRANCE: L’Europeenne d’Assurances / GARANT / SOVAG / AXA Assurances / AXA Colonia Versicherung AG / Europ Assistance (+ Premier assistance – VISA PREMIER ; VISA GOLD) / SOS International (AEA)+ACE Europe Inter Mutuel Assistance (MAIF, MACIF, MATMUT, MAE, MAAF, MAPA, FIUA, AGPM, AMF, AMM, AMCH, P&V) / AIG (+ AVA + CONTACT ASSISTANCE + MONDASTOUR) / France Assist / FIDELIA / Mutuaide Assistance (+ GROUPAMA +GAN+TMS Europay France – Eurocard MasterCard Assistance) / Garantie Assistance / Mondial Assistance (+CIGNA France)+ELVIA (VISA BLEU) / AXA Assistance (+ INTER PERTNER ASSISTANCE + AMERICAN EXPRESS ASSISTANCE, AIPS) / France Secours / C.I.C.P./ CORIS International / France Secours
Please note that only original certificate of insurance (with STAMP) will be receivable to apply for a VISA. We recommend you to apply for it only after you are sure of the exact period of your stay in Russia (period mentioned on the official invitation). In contrary your request to the consulate will be unacceptable.
Usually the consulate required AIDS analysis. But you should not be concerned if you do not plan to stay more than 3 months in Russia.
VISA
WHAT TYPE OF VISA DO YOU NEED?
6 different visas are available for Russia. Two possibilities are therefore offered to you:
FOR ECOTOURS: you will need to ask for a RUSSIAN BUSINESS VISA WITH SIMPLE-ENTRY. Contrary to a tourist Visa, which requires you to collect tourist voucher and registration in a Russian hotel, a Business Visa is much more flexible and suitable for our tours. It is also allowed to use it for tourist purposes, and it is less limited in time (from 1 month to 12 months).
The price should be around 60 euros ($75) within 1 week. But the price increases for express request. Please find conditions to Russian consulates of your country (list…)
FOR SCIENTIFIC EXCURSIONS AND SUMMER SCHOOLS: if you are students and will participate in our scientific excursions or summer school, you can also apply for a STUDENT VISA.
The price should be around 60 euros ($75) within 1 week. But the price increases for express request. Please find conditions to Russian consulates of your country (list…) Please note that, if you will participate to our scientific excursions and that you are not student, you need therefore to apply for a Russian Business Visa (information above).
Please find hereby an example of a Russian VISA:
RUSSIAN CONSULATE IN YOUR COUNTRY
After you have received original invitation (or telex) and original certificate of insurance, you will need to apply for a visa to Russian Embassy in your country. Please find below, the several contacts of Russian consulates in your country, as well as the application forms to downloaded:
USA: procedure: www.russianembassy.org + application form
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WASHINGTON
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Address: 2641 Tunlaw Road, N.W. - Washington, D.C. 20007.
Tel: (202) 939-8907, 939-8913, 939-8918.
Office hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Open to public: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
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NEW YORK
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9 East 91 Street, New York, NY 10128.
Tel: (212) 348-0926 Fax: (212) 831-9162.
Office hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Open to public: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
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SAN FRANSISCO
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2790 Green Street - San-Francisco, CA 94123.
Tel: (415) 928-6878 , (415) 202-9800.
Open to public: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Visa Desk: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Passport & Legal Deck: Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
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SEATTLE
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2323 Westin Building, 2001 6th Ave. – Seattle, WA 98121.
Tel: (206) 728-1910.
Open to public: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Visa Desk: Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
Passport&Legal Deck: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
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HOUSTON
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1333 West Loop South, Ste.1300 - Houston, TX77027.
Tel: (713) 337-3300.
Office hours: Monday - Frid. 9:00 - 12:30; 14:30 - 18:00.
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UK: procedure: www.rusemblon.org + application form
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LONDON
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5 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QX, UK.
Tel:+44 (0) 207 229-8027.
Visa open hour: from Monday to Friday between 09.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m
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EDINBURGH
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58, Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HF, Scotland.
Tel: +44 ((0)131) 225-7098.
Open hours: mon - fri 09.00-12.30.
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DE: procedure: www.russische-botschaft.de + application form
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BERLIN
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Russian consulate in Berlin: 63-65, Unter den Linden, 10117 Berlin.
Tel: +49 ((0)30) 229-1207, 229-1420.
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BONN
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Tel:+49 (0228) 312-083, 312-529, 312-074.
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HAMBURG
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20, Am Feenteich, D-22085, Hamburg.
Tel: +49 (040) 229-5201.
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LEIPZIG
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18, Kickerlingsberg, D-04105, Leipzig.
Tel: +49 (0341) 518-76.
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MUNICH
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Seidelstrasse, D-80335, Munich.
Tel: +49 (089) 592-503.
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ROSTOCK
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3, Tuhnenstrasse, D-18057, Rostock.
Tel.:+49 (0381) 22-642.
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FR: procedure: www.france.mid.ru + application form + application for insurance
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PARIS
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50, Boulevard Lannes, F-75116, Paris.
Tel.: +33 (1) 45040550, 45047171, 47644547, 47634547, 45050501.
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MARSEILLE
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8, Rue Ambrois Pare, F-13008, Marseille.
Tel.:+33 (91) 771-525.
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STRASBOURG
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75, Avenue de la Robertsau - 67000, Strasbourg.
Tel.:+33 (03) 8836-7315.
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For other nationality, we invite you to browse the following webpage: http://www.russian-embassy.info. You will sure find the addresses of the several Russian representations in your country.
MIGRATION CARD
At your arrival in Russian territory, you will have to fulfill an migration card, that Russian authorities will provide you on the border Please download an example here: migration card
The migration card consists of two sections and the top portion is immediately collected by the passport/visa control officials, while the bottom part is collected when the person leaves the country to return home. Therefore you need to keep your migration card carefully during all your stay in Russia.
Before arriving to Russia, you need to make sure you got the full name and address of the company that made your invitation. You need to inform the Russian officials accordingly to what's written in your invitation and be prepared to show copies of your official invitation. In order to avoid any mistakes on the border, we invite you to fulfill your migration card according to the exact information of your invitation.
VISA REGISTRATION
According to Russian law, you must register your visa within 72 hours after arrival. All visas can be registered for 90 days maximum.
You can register your Russian visa either:
1) At your hotel free of charge (or for a small fee - about $0.5 US),
2) Through the Russian visa and registration department (OVIR),
3) At the offices of travel agencies in several cities in Russia.
Please note that this procedure will only concerned tourists who want to travel in Russia before to join us, and that will like to stay more than 3 nights at the same place. For participants of our tours, we will manage your registration directly on your arrival to our meeting point.
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